Hallucinations and Exaltations (Part III) - Winding Down
The detentionees – all of whom were at varying levels of inebriated -- lounged about the library, giggling or talking nonsensically.
“Lemme do your nails!” Aria said, pulling the half-awake Alice towards her.
“Is that a good idea?” The Brit asked her.
“Well, I wanna and I’m gonna.” The popular girl replied, pulling out a bottle of powder blue nail polish from her purse. “Stretch out your fingers.” Aria said, opening the bottle and placing Alice’s hands on her lap.
The two sat in relative silence for a while before Alice asked, “Why’re you being so nice to me? You do realize that whatever we have going on isn’t going to last after today.”
“Well,” Aria said, not taking her eyes off of the older girl’s left middle finger. “I actually got two very good reasons why I’m doing this.”
“That being?” The goth prodded.
“For starters, I want to make today last as long as I can,” Aria explained, eyes zeroing in on Alice’s thumb. “I’m not as dumb as everyone thinks I am,” She continued, taking a hold of the goth’s other hand. “I know everything’s gonna go back to normal on Monday, more or less. But, I like you guys and I wanted to do something good to balance out all of the heavy emotional shit we shared earlier.”
“And, painting my nails is one of those things?”
“I’ve always liked painting and drawing,” The younger girl continued, “The way the colors and shapes come alive, I’m thinking of majoring in art when I go off to college. Probably major in Art History and study the greats like Vermeer and Artemisia and O’Keefe, maybe even make my own art on the side.”
“That’s a good career choice.” Alice said, the corners of her lips quirking upwards. “I think you’ll be a great artist.” Looking at her left hand, she continued, “You certainly did a good job with my nails.”
“Thank you very much,” Aria smiled, before putting the last few coats of paint on Alice’s right thumb. “And, I am done!”
Alice leaned back and looked at her still wet nails. “Not bad.”
“You are welcome.” Aria grinned, pulling the older girl in for a hug. Luckily for Alice, she managed to splay her arms out awkwardly as to not ruin or smudge the paint.
“You…” Alice began as Aria pulled away, then gave the other girl a soft smile. “You are a wonder, Aria Montgomery.”
The younger girl grinned brightly in response. “As are you, Alice Liddell.”
<Mr. Brightside by The Killers begins to play in the background>
Everyone began to cheer as the song began to blast over the radio.
“I love this song!” Yuffie and Gary cheered.
Soon, they all got up and started dancing and singing along to the chorus-
“Jealousy!/Turning saints into the sea!/Swimming through sick lullabies!/Choking on your alibis!/But, it's just the price I pay!/Destiny is calling me!/Open up my eager eye!/'Cause I'm Mr. Brightside!~*”